Sun X, Shi XW, Han L, Zhang YF, Xu Y, Lu YC. Recent progress in the use of periplocin, periplocymarin and periplogenin in cancer treatment. World J Clin Oncol 2025; 16(8): 107490 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i8.107490]
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Oncol. Aug 24, 2025; 16(8): 107490 Published online Aug 24, 2025. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i8.107490
Recent progress in the use of periplocin, periplocymarin and periplogenin in cancer treatment
Xin Sun, Xiao-Wei Shi, Lei Han, Yi-Fan Zhang, Yang Xu, Yu-Cheng Lu
Xin Sun, Xiao-Wei Shi, Medical College, Linyi University, Linyi 276000, Shandong Province, China
Xin Sun, Lei Han, Yu-Cheng Lu, Department of Biobank, Linyi People’s Hospital, Linyi 276000, Shandong Province, China
Yi-Fan Zhang, International School of Bioresource Application, Linyi University, Linyi 276000, Shandong Province, China
Yang Xu, Department of Reproductive Medicine, Linyi People’s Hospital, Linyi 276000, Shandong Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Yang Xu and Yu-Cheng Lu.
Author contributions: Sun X and Shi XW were responsible for the organization of the article and literature survey; Sun X and Han L drafted the original manuscript; Sun X, Zhang YF, Xu Y, and Lu YC revised and edited the draft; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Project of Shandong Province, China, No. M-2023131; and The Science and Technology Development Fund Project of the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, China, No. XYFM202348.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Received: March 30, 2025 Revised: May 3, 2025 Accepted: June 26, 2025 Published online: August 24, 2025 Processing time: 145 Days and 1.7 Hours
Abstract
Periplocin, periplocymarin and periplogenin are the main active components of Cortex Periplocae. The most cytotoxic constituent of Cortex Periplocae, periplocin is an alpha cardiac glycoside with a steroid core and an unsaturated five-membered lactone ring structure. Periplocymarin is a secondary alpha cardiac glycoside, which is produced by removing one molecule of glucose from periplocin, and periplogenin is the glycosidic portion and the basic unit of periplocin and periplocymarin. These three cardiac glycosides, by virtue of their unique pharmacological activities and mechanisms of action, mediate signaling pathways, mainly the retinoblastoma and p53 signaling pathways, and regulate cell cycle proteins, thereby hindering the proliferation of cancer cells and altering the cell cycle process. These glycosides also regulate caspase proteins by mediating endogenous and exogenous pathways, thereby inducing the apoptosis of cancer cells. This minireview focuses on the inhibitory effects of periplocin, periplocymarin and periplogenin on cancer, and explores their potential antitumor mechanisms.
Core Tip: Periplocin, periplocymarin and periplogenin are three cardiac glycosides widely recognized as the main active ingredients of Cortex Periplocae. Various experiments have shown that they exert antitumor effects by regulating cell cycle proteins, blocking malignant cell proliferation, activating caspase proteases and inducing apoptosis in cancer cells. This minireview focuses on the tumor inhibitory effects of periplocin, periplocymarin and periplogenin.
